I don’t know if there’s anyone out there who gets *excited* to set an alarm. Whether it’s for your 8AM economics class (I dropped out of that one three weeks into my first semester) or your Monday-Friday full-time gig, it’s the most unpleasant feeling ever knowing your sleep clock is literally limited, ticking all night long until that inevitable moment arrives at your predetermined, heavily-dreaded time.
We’ve come a long way with alarm clocks. There’s probably a handful of hipsters/elderly out there with the old school battery operated version with bells, and then some of us who set custom music, vibration patterns or hook up other tech devices to an alarm for that extra nudge. And then there’s the select few who are lucky to have a human alarm (shoutout, mom) or even a furry friend who lets you know it’s time to be responsible and do something for someone else.
But regardless of how you wake yourself up, the real question here is what do you do when the moment comes? Do you bounce out of bed like a cartoon character who’s already
fully dressed for the day underneath the sheets?
Or do you do what I think 90 percent of all people do? Hit the snooze button for a couple of extra sweet, sweet zzz’s.
It’s no secret that the snooze button is loathed by medical professionals and sleep experts, but we continue to use it as that little crutch to get us in a better state of mind. There’s something nice about rolling out of bed on your time to conquer what’s left of the morning once you finally succumb to reality.
What’s so bad about it? They say if you need to use a snooze alarm, you’re probably setting your original alarm too early. And I’m so, so guilty of this. You start off with high hopes to be an early riser, but when the first alarm comes you’re just not ready and you end up snoozing until the dead last time you could get up to make it on time.
You’re also messing up your brain’s hormones, your REM cycle, and overall you’re just not giving your body enough sleep –which is what it all boils down to anyways, so who’s to blame the snooze!
I don’t want to be the cartoon character springing out of bed fully dressed at the last minute. Then you’re screwed and lost all hope of waking up earlier than expected. But I can’t prove my method to be right or better or anything. Since the real research says so, maybe we need to cut that little devil snooze outta our life.
And when all else fails, there’s always coffee. #NeverForget